The Brilliant Tree That Grows 40 Different Kinds Of Fruit

Ever imagine a tree that grows more than one fruit? Lo and behold, this magic tree sprouts dozens of different fruits – for real!

When you think fruit tree, you usually think in terms of one fruit – an apple tree, a mango tree and so on. Ready for your mind to be blown? Ther'es a tree out there that bears 40 different kinds of fruit.

Sam Van Aken, an artist and professor at Syracuse University, has been working with trees for the past seven years, using a technique called “chip-grafting” to create hybridized trees that could bear multiple varieties of fruits.

Van Aken runs Treeof40fruit.com to highlight his 40-fruit tree, complete with detailed timelines of the blooming process the tree undergoes. His hard work is finally coming to life after years, as a tree has blossomed to flower 40 fruits of different varieties.

“When I’d seen it done as a child it was Dr. Seuss and Frankenstein and just about everything fantastic,” Van Aken said in a Tedx Manhattan talk last year.

Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?

Van Aken acquired a three-acre orchard via the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station that includes more than 250 varieties of fruits to help make his dream come true.

National Geographic has put together a short video showing how the grafting technique works.